DEVELOPING A REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
February 17, 2013
WELCOME TO ISSUE FORTY!DEVELOPING A REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Thanks for subscribing! It is hard to believe that I've written forty newsletters over the past few years. As you can tell from the title of this newsletter, a reflective practice is something that I find necessary for all teachers, whether you are a first-year newbie or a veteran.
If you get an opportunity, please check out this page at Edudemic.com: http://edudemic.com/2012/12/best-books-for-teachers/. Although I've always been a fan of Edudemic, I did not expect to have one of my books selected as the best book for teachers last year. I feel honored to be in such great company.
I wrote this article as part of the third edition of the first-year teacher book. It is in the production stage and should be available on July 8. As a writer, as a consultant, and even more importantly, as a practicing teacher, I find it important to think about what I do before I act. For years, I have had the second sentence of this little article taped to my desk at school. For me, teaching is indeed a deliberate act.
"Highly effective teachers soon realize that no one is a natural teacher. Teaching is a deliberate act. No educator can just rush through the hurly burly of a school day paying cursory attention to what we are expected to accomplish and then expect to be successful. Reflecting on our teaching should be part of every aspect of our professional lives. Such reflection needs to systematic, methodical, and purposeful.
Veteran teachers have found many different ways to reflect on their practice. We can gather information about our performance from a variety of sources such as asking colleagues to observe us, surveying our students, joining staff discussion groups, or even videotaping ourselves. Examining the information that you gather in these ways will allow you to assess your strengths as well as your weaknesses. You will be able to discern trends and patterns in your teaching as you seek to improve your skills.
One very common and useful method of maintaining a reflective teaching practice can also involve recording ideas and observations in a journal on a regular basis. Whether you choose to maintain a journal online, in a computer desktop folder, on paper, or even in an audio version, it is important to be diligent about recording regularly. The questions below can help you use the time that you want to reflect on your teaching practice as efficiently as possible.
1. Are my goals for lessons reasonable and appropriate?
2. Are my students challenged to do their best?
3. Do students learn what they are supposed to master? How can I ensure that they always do this?
4. At what points in a lesson do I have to change strategies or activities? Why? How productive was this flexibility on my part?
5. How can I offer remediation or enrichment activities to the students who need them?
6. What data do I need to collect before moving on to the next unit of study? How can I gather this information?
7. What can I do to improve my skills at collaborating with colleagues?
8. What worked in today’s lesson? What did not work?
9. How do I want my students to interact with each other as a whole group?
10. What can I do to help my students collaborate with each other in small groups?
11. What is the most efficient way to ___?
12. How can I integrate technology into my lessons?
13. What problems did I have to manage today? How well did I manage those problems?
14. Where can I learn more about how to ___?
15. How well do I listen to my students? What can I do to make sure that I model good listening skills?
16. Which students were off task? What caused them to be off task?
17. When were my students on task? What can I do to guarantee that continues?
18. How did I show that I was enthusiastic about the subject matter?
19. How effective were the motivation techniques that I used? How can I modify them for future lessons?
20. How can I foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and courtesy among my students?
21. How well do I manage my classroom? What can I improve?
22. What should I do to help my students learn to be self-disciplined learners?
23. How much progress am I making in improving my teaching knowledge or skills? What can I do to improve?
24. How can I use my strengths as a teacher to full advantage in my classroom?
25. What are my strengths as a classroom leader?
TEACHER WORKSHEET 1.1: A TEMPLATE FOR PROFESSIONAL SELF-REFLECTION
Using a template such as this one will make finding the time to reflect on your classroom practices a manageable daily routine task.
Date__________
What lessons did I learn today?
How can I improve the way I manage my class?
How can I improve the way that I handled my academic responsibilities?
What problems did I find solutions for today, and what problems do I still need to solve?
What successes did I have today, and how did I achieve them?"